By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MIAMI - Danny Graves got the save Monday in the Reds' 9-7 victory over the Florida Marlins, but Todd Jones clearly saved the game.

Danny Graves (right) got the save, but Todd Jones helped. (AP photo)

Jones came in with no outs and runners at first and second in the seventh inning. After the Marlins loaded the bases, thanks to Jones' own fielding miscue, Jones escaped the inning with the 9-7 lead in tact.

"He picked me up. He picked the team up," said John Riedling, who walked the two batters before Jones' came in. "He came in and shut them down. That was a good win for us."

Jones struck out Ramon Castro and Lenny Harris, then got Luis Castillo to ground out.

"I got lucky to get out of it with the bases loaded and no outs," Jones said.

Reds manager Dave Miley saw it differently.

"He was the star of the game," Miley said.

Jones was kicking himself about the misplay with Alex Gonzalez batting. Gonzalez was trying to sacrifice. Jones was confident he'd get the runner at third. "I told (third baseman Tim) Hummel, 'Don't let the belly fool you. I'm a good athlete. I'll get him at third,' " Jones said. "I thought he'd bunt it hard. He bunted it soft."

Jones got to the ball in time to get Gonzalez at first but he dropped it as he tried to pick it up. It was generously scored an infield hit. That just made Jones' escape act a little more miraculous.

KEARNS UPDATE: Ask Austin Kearns how the sore on his right thumb is and he can't tell you.

Kearns missed his third straight start Monday because of the open sore on the thumb. He hasn't even picked up a bat during the time off. But they put a patch on the wound to help it heal.

"So I can't see it," Kearns said. "I'm just supposed to leave the (patch) on until it falls off."

That will probably be today. So there's a chance if the patch falls off today and the thumbs looks OK, Kearns could be back in the lineup for tonight's game.

There's a better chance that they'll give him another day off and play him Wednesday when left-hander Dontrelle Willis starts for the Marlins.

CASTRO HURT: Juan Castro started Monday's game against the Marlins but had to leave in the third inning with a rib cage strain. He did it swinging and missing a pitch. He is listed as day-to-day.

DUNN OUT: With left-hander Tommy Phelps starting for the Marlins Monday, Adam Dunn was out of the starting lineup. Dunn entered as part of a double switch and grounded out in the one at-bat. He has one hit in his last 29 at-bats and five hits in last 47 (.106).

WILSON UPDATE: Paul Wilson, who missed Sunday's start with a slightly strained right groin, got through his agility session without a hitch Monday.

"It went well," pitching coach Don Gullett said. "He did some running and cutting. If he's OK (today), we'll have him long toss, then do some flat-ground work and then look at getting him to throw off the mound."

The Reds are still hoping Wilson will miss only one start. But Gullett said they'll wait to see how Wilson feels over the next couple of days before slotting him into a spot. Given Joe Valentine's performance when he filled in for Wilson Sunday, it's extremely unlikely that Valentine will be given another start. He walked five in one-plus inning of work in the Reds' 6-2 loss to Montreal.

WHAT OF CLAUSSEN: If Wilson has to miss another start, the Reds could call up Brandon Claussen, the left-hander obtained in the Aaron Boone deal.

Claussen's turn falls on the same day as Wilson. Claussen made probably his best of the year on the Triple-A Louisville's 4-3 victory over Pawtucket Sunday.

He went shutout six innings, allowing three hits and two walks and striking out five.

Claussen is 3-3 with 5.75 ERA, but he's been good two of his last three starts.

Claussen made one start for New York Yankees last year before the trade. He went 6 1/3 innings and allowed only one run in a 9-8 victory over New York Mets.

UP NEXT: The Reds play the Marlins in the second game of the three-game series. Right-hander Aaron Harang (4-2, 5.27 ERA) faces right-hander Brad Penny (6-2, 2.12) in a rematch of Thursday's pitching matchup in Cincinnati. Penny won that one 5-2. Penny then had some unkind words about Ken Griffey Jr. and his stare into the Marlins dugout two nights earlier.

Griffey on the stare/controversy: "It's over and done with. The media made a bigger deal of it than it was."

REDS FACT: Their victory over the Marlins Monday was their eighth straight over first-place teams.

Reds statistics

(Through Monday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.394	.439	193	40	76	19	1	9	40	15	17	1	0	1
Castro	.298	.337	84	11	25	6	1	1	9	5	16	0	0	4
Larkin	.293	.337	181	32	53	8	2	3	19	13	23	2	0	1
Larson	.278	.350	36	4	10	3	0	1	5	4	6	0	0	5
Pena	.264	.328	53	7	14	1	1	4	8	4	24	0	0	0
Freel	.248	.347	153	21	38	4	5	1	8	16	27	8	3	6
Dunn	.247	.431	158	32	39	8	0	12	28	48	64	2	0	2
Griffey	.243	.344	182	27	44	12	0	13	42	26	41	1	0	0
Jimenez	.239	.348	188	24	45	9	2	3	19	31	30	2	4	4
Cruz	.220	.347	41	7	9	3	0	0	6	8	16	0	0	0
Kearns	.198	.330	86	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	29	1	1	1
Hummel	.188	.220	32	1	6	1	0	0	4	2	5	0	0	1
LaRue	.188	.319	96	11	18	6	0	1	11	12	26	0	1	5
Valentin	.162	.210	74	7	12	3	0	3	8	5	9	0	0	3
Team Totals	.248	.343	1683	240	417	88	13	54	224	222	403	17	9	34

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Riedling	4	0	1.67	24	0	0	27.0	15	8	5	1	10	19
Graves	1	3	2.70	30	0	24	30.0	28	14	9	7	4	20
Wilson	7	0	3.34	10	10	0	64.2	68	26	24	8	15	35
Van Poppel	2	2	4.31	11	5	0	39.2	43	19	19	3	8	25
Acevedo	3	3	4.15	10	10	0	60.2	58	29	28	10	12	51
Matthews	0	0	4.15	7	0	0	4.1	4	3	2	2	3	2
Norton	0	0	4.58	21	0	0	17.2	19	10	9	2	9	8
Jones	3	1	4.39	26	0	1	29.1	25	14	14	2	14	23
Lidle	4	4	4.73	11	11	0	72.1	71	39	38	10	14	37
Harang	4	2	5.27	10	10	0	54.2	69	32	32	7	22	41
Reith	0	1	6.63	16	0	0	19.0	22	14	14	4	13	19
Valentine	0	1	27.00	1	1	0	1.0	2	3	3	0	5	0
Team Totals	30	21	4.48	51	51	25	450	476	241	224	62	147	297